One garden, two houses, some lessons from the past and hope for the future. A look at life in New Zealand, a bit of history and a Morris jig or two. You can also find me on Instagram @hobbyography and @jeneane_on_etsy
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My Favourite Window

February 26, 2012

Wellington Weekend

After too many days of cold and rain in the Secret Garden,

I arrived in Wellington last week, to find basking sunshine

and hardly any wind !

Although Christchurch, in its heyday, bore the Garden City garland, Wellington is one great Secret Garden﻿.

All over the hillside suburbs, footpaths make short work of getting around - or leave the flatlander short of breath.

They step and sweep, zig-zag, or boldly take a lift to or from sea level, offering all sorts of glimpses into other people's lives, gardens and wilderness along the way.

Amongst the city towers of mirror glass, ivy races for the sky and native seedlings carelessly take root. In the slots and crannies of park benchs pohutukawa seeds sprout hopefully. It wouldn't take much neglect for this trumpeting commercial centre to disappear into the undergrowth,

so fecund is its moist and mild climate.

But Wellington is New Zealand's capital city, and culture is cultivated, so there are gardens that exceed expectations,

like the lovely native forest garden in the national museum,

Te Papa,

and this sea-shore garden on the Waterfront that invites exploration.

But because my hosts, Noreen and Dyk (above centre) live very close to the Botanic Gardens, it is easy to amble around and through that diverse space:

On my own...

or with friends.

﻿

We marvel at sculptures, such as Rudderstone

or play with Listening and Viewing Devise.

Naturally we take time to smell the roses.

And when night falls I stroll down to the end of the road and enter the forest margin to say goodnight to the gloworms, glimmering under mossy overhangs above the path and from across the invisible stream.

The real reason for my visit to Wellington is the subject of another post...

Glad you like it Nick. The 'house' is a boatshed overlooking a recreational lagoon; just part of an extensive waterfront park developed from old quayside. The garden is delightful, with little paths winding amongst the strange, tough plants that inhabit wild coastland, and monstrous relics of wharf-works.

Fabulous it is Claire. This is a city where you can sit stuck in the morning rush hour and watch dolphins or whales cavorting in the harbour. This is a city where in casual conversation you find yourself talking to the craftsmen and women behind the detail of the Lord of the Rings films. It is a city where multi-storey buildings and whole precincts are shunted around like chess pieces to fit some new planning scheme. It is also a city made possible by an Earthquake 157 years ago.

I lived in Wellington for many years prior to my shift to Christchurch, love visiting there too. I had forgotten how lovely the Botanic Gardens are. I haven't posted about my visit yet - a bit preoccupied but I'll get to it.

John, it rather looks like a soft and and inviting couch to collapse into doesn't it. As a young gardener I despised hydrangeas for the single-minded way they were grown at the backs of houses by an older generation. Now I am eyeing up suitable places in the Secret Garden for my own glade :-)